Renren Tesorio’s handler eyes match vs Richard Claveras

MANILA, Philippines – After successfully defending the Philippine light flyweight title against Bonjun Loperez on Friday, July 31, Renren Tesorio’s camp has set their sights on an in-ring meeting with Richard Claveras.

According to Tesorio’s manager Ryan Gabriel, he is working on pitting the 23-year-old native of Puerto Princesa City against Claveras in a winner-takes-all bout this year.

Tesorio currently holds the Philippine junior flyweight crown, while Claveras possesses the WBC-affiliated Asian Boxing Council light flyweight belt.

“I have been working on that match-up for a long time. To determine who’s the best at light flyweight in the local scene and in this category of young boxers, a fight between Tesorio and Claveras should happen. I hope we can do it later this year,” Gabriel told Rappler.

Tesorio (15-6-3, 4 knockouts) defeated Loperez via technical unanimous decision on the undercard of Bernabe Concepcion vs. Juma Fundi last week.

(READ: Bernabe Concepcion KOs Tanzanian foe to win WBO regional title)

Loperez suffered a severe cut on his right eyebrow that was caused by an accidental head butt, compelling referee Virgilio Garcia to halt the contest in round 5 as advised by the ringside physician.

Gabriel, who is also Concepcion’s handler, is not ruling out a rematch versus Loperez, but he is leaning towards Claveras as Tesorio’s next opponent.

“I want to see the fight because it will definitely be a tough fight for these fighters. Renren also wants the fight against Claveras. We are just crossing our fingers for this bout to happen this year,” he said.

Claveras (13-1-2, 12 KOs) is coming off a difficult 12-round encounter with Benezer Alolod last July 11, winning the bloody bout by way of unanimous decision.

Claveras’ blood-spattered triumph over Alolod is his first decision victory in his young prizefighting career as 12 of his 13 wins have been achieved by knockout.

Big opportunities

The 26-year-old knockout artist vied for a world title this past April, yielding to WBC light flyweight titleholder Pedro Guevara via first-round stoppage.

Gabriel sees that avenues will be wider for Tesorio if he picks up a win over Claveras when the potential 108-pound showdown comes to fruition.

“Claveras already fought for a world title. If Tesorio can get the job done, big opportunities will come his way,” he quipped.

Claveras and Tesorio share a common foe in Alolod as the latter faced the Santa Rosa City, Laguna-based southpaw twice in the squared-circle.

Tesorio dropped a split decision to Alolod in December 2014, but he avenged his loss with a majority decision in March of this year and eventually captured the Philippine light flyweight strap.

“Tesorio had two close fights with Alolod, while Claveras had an exciting but tough fight against the same fighter. I can truly say that expectations are high when this fight pushes through. I am also confident that Tesorio can hang with Claveras,” Gabriel said. – Rappler.com